This application claims the benefit of foreign priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 or xc2xa7356 to British Patent Application Nos. 9814796.0, filed Jul. 8, 1998, and 9821713.6, filed Oct. 14, 1998.
The invention relates to apparatus for separating articles of laundry which are bundled together and discharged after the washing process in a modem laundry. The process and handling procedures described within this application mainly, but not exclusively, concern large laundry flatwork, namely: sheets, table covers and other similar rectangular textile articles.
After the washing and water extraction process, followed by a rotary tumbling process, which loosens up the articles, the bundles are discharged and onward conveyed by trucks or mechanical conveyors to the finishing departments where each piece is manually handled by the operators, who feed the items into the ironing machines. In order to increase the productive output and also to reduce the work effort of the operators, it is desirable to separate the articles from the bundle pile and then direct the pieces to the operators in a more handleable state.
Among the existing methods which are used to separate articles are those which employ grip and pickup mechanisms. These comprise a gripping device which is arranged for substantially vertical travel up and down and which is lowered to make random contact with the articles in the bundle pile. A pair of jaws are closed to grip a portion of the fabric and the mechanism is raised upwards to withdraw the article from the pile. At a predetermined height the article is released and directed on to conveyor means which will route it to the feeding machine operators.
For gripping mechanisms to effectively pick up and separate just one or two articles at a time it is necessary for the jaws to grip a relatively small portion of the fabric which does impose a danger of tearing the fabric when withdrawing from a heavily tangled pile. Alternatively jaws which are arranged to grip a substantial amount of fabric will tend to withdraw a greater number of articles with each pick up operation, consequently the process of separation is not efficient.
There are limitations with the existing systems regarding the degree of tangled laundry they can effectively process. The work loads in many laundries are transported in hand trucks which can be loaded to a depth in excess of 70 cms and here the bundle pile is compacted and heavily tangled.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided laundry separating apparatus for separating an article of laundry from a bundle of laundry articles, the apparatus comprising a frame, a drive connected with a laundry truck to moveably position the truck relative to the frame and allow positioning of the truck both away from and adjacent to the frame. In another embodiment of this aspect, the apparatus comprises a frame, a grip device mounted for guided movement towards and away from a bundle of laundry, a truck in which the laundry articles are, in use, located, drive means for moving said grip device towards and away from said laundry, moving means associated with the truck for causing the truck to move relative to the frame beneath the grip device during the operation of the apparatus.
Preferably the moving means moves the truck after a number of cycles of movement of the grip device towards and away from the bundle determined by control means, the grip device being actuated to grip an article of laundry at the lowermost point in its cycle of movement. In most arrangements the grip device moves substantially vertically towards and away from the truck, so as to suspend a gripped article of laundry.
In some arrangements the moving means comprises a carriage and the truck is wheeled for free movement on the ground and, in use, is releasably clamped relative to the carriage which is mounted on the frame for forward and backward movement relative thereto.
In other arrangements the moving means comprises guide means extending between a truck loading position and a laundry separating position below the grip device, the truck being mounted on the guide means such that movement of the truck relative to the guide means results in movement of the truck relative to the grip device. Conveniently the guide means comprises a pair of guide rails.
Ideally control means are provided to coordinate the movement of the grip device and the truck relative thereto. It is a preferred feature that the control means moves the truck relative to the grip device if the grip device fails to grip an article of laundry. Also, the control means moves the truck relative to the grip device if the apparatus is unable to extract an article and the article is released back into the bundle.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided laundry separating apparatus for separating an article of laundry from a bundle of laundry articles, the apparatus comprising a frame, a conveyor with a shaft pivotally mounted with the frame, a nip formed with the conveyor and a means for oscillating the conveyor and the nip about the shaft. In another embodiment, the apparatus comprises a frame, a clamp moveably connected with the frame along a first path of travel, a conveyor connected with the frame and offset from the first path of travel, and a nip formed with the conveyor adjacent to the first path of travel. In yet another embodiment of this aspect, the apparatus comprises a grip device mounted for guided movement towards and away from said bundle to extract said article of laundry from said bundle, a conveyor mounted adjacent the path of movement of said grip device, a nip roller mounted adjacent the conveyor to define therebetween a nip, transfer means for transferring a portion of said article of laundry into said nip, and control means for actuating the transfer means and actuating said grip device so as to release said article of laundry which is then conveyed by said conveyor.
Preferably said conveyor is adapted to oscillate towards and away from said bundle of laundry. In a preferred arrangement said conveyor is an endless belt conveyor extending between two rollers, the first of which is located adjacent the path of the grip device and the associated nip roller and the second of which is relatively remote from the path of the grip device, the second roller being driven in rotation and acting as the pivot for the oscillation of the conveyor.
It is a preferred feature that said transfer means comprises air jet means mounted on the other side of the movement path of the grip device to said conveyor and adapted to blow said portion of the article towards the nip. When the conveyor oscillates said air jet means are movably mounted so as always to be directed towards the nip between the conveyor and the nip roller.
Normally the nip roller is biased into engagement with the conveyor and in preferred embodiments sensing means are provided to detect a blockage in the nip of the conveyor, the sensing means being linked to the control means to actuate reversal of the conveyor to remove the blockage. Conveniently the sensing means comprises an encoder on the nip roller which encoder senses when the nip roller is no longer rotating in a laundry removal direction.
In some arrangements a further sensor is provided to detect the presence of the gripped suspended article of laundry, the sensor being linked to the control means to actuate the transfer mechanism and to release the article from the grip device. Preferably the further sensor also detects clearance of the removed blockage to resume forward movement of the conveyor and may comprise a photocell or a row of photocells.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided laundry separating apparatus for separating an article of laundry from a bundle of laundry, said apparatus comprising a casing, first and second clamp jaws mounted in the casing where the first jaws are substantially fixed in position relative to the second jaws. In another embodiment, the apparatus comprises a grip device mounted for guided movement towards and away from the bundle of laundry, drive means for lifting the grip device away from said bundle, and sensor means determining the lowermost point of the movement of the grip device towards the laundry so as to actuate the grip device to grip an article of laundry and to actuate the drive means to lift the grip device and the gripped article away from the bundle of laundry, the grip device having first and second pairs of gripping jaws, the first pair gripping a small part of the article of laundry and the second pair gripping a larger part of the article after the grip device has been moved a predetermined distance away from the bundle of laundry.
Preferably the jaws are pivotally mounted on a gripping carriage. In a preferred embodiment the axes of the jaw pivots are parallel to each other, the first jaws being mounted inside the second jaws.
Conveniently the drive means comprises a rotatable winch drum connected to said grip device by one or more belts/cables. In preferred arrangements the winch drum is driven by means of a pinion fixed thereto and a cooperating rack connected to a pneumatic cylinder, exhaustion of which allows the grip device to fall under gravity.
Ideally velocity regulating means are provided to slow the movement of the grip device as it approaches the bundle of laundry. In a preferred arrangement said velocity regulating means comprises a damping cylinder which is engaged at a predetermined point in the gravity movement of the grip device by an arm which extends from the rack. A further preferred feature is that a failsafe brake is provided for the winch drum, which brake is able, when actuated, to prevent the grip device from falling under gravity.
Preferably said sensing means comprises an encoder to detect lack of movement of the winch drum when the grip device is being moved away from the bundle to detect an overload condition thereby actuating the brake and releasing the grip device, and when the grip device falls under gravity to detect the lowermost point of movement of the grip device. Ideally the guided movement of the grip device is substantially vertical so as to suspend the gripped article of laundry.
According to further aspects of the invention, a laundry separating apparatus comprises a grip device mounted for guided movement towards and away from a bundle of laundry and a drive for lifting the grip device away from the bundle and allowing the grip device to fall due to gravity towards the bundle of laundry. In one embodiment of this aspect, a winch wheel with a belt connection with the gripping device connects a drive to the grip device. An apparatus comprising sensors for detecting overload conditions when separating a laundry article from a bundle is also provided. The sensor detects movement of a gripping device or a nip roller.
Other features are set out in the claims of the present application.